The Rolling Stones' upcoming 18-date North American tour in May and June will be promoted by AEG Live, according to Pollstar. No dates have been announced for the two-month tour, but the Stones will play major cities with several multi-night stands during the run. AEG takes over the band's concert promotion from Virgin Live, which handled the Stones' 2012 dates.

The Stones have been known to follow the best deal regardless of long-running relationships with promoters. Despite having a longstanding relationship with Bill Graham, who promoted the band's 1981 North American tour, in 1989 the band went with promoter Michael Cohl, who served as the band's promoter until parting ways with Live Nation in 2008.

With the Stones now in their 50th year, Mick Jagger was asked what the recipe is for such unparalleled and long lasting success: "I think that the Stones are very lucky -- yeah, you always need a lit of luck. They were in the right place at the right time. And they -- we, when we work, we work very hard. So you need all those things. It's no good just being hard-working, 'cause lot's of people are hardworking. But you've got to be hardworking, on your game, and be lucky."

Drummer Charlie Watts says that it never crossed his mind that the Stones would ever make it -- let along become rock's longest lasting rock bands: "No, every band I'd ever been in lasted a week. I mean, you only lasted as long as the guy in the club, or whatever, would book you for. So, y'know, if they didn't like you, y'know, it was two gigs and that was it. So I always thought it's gonna last a week, then a fortnight, and suddenly it's 30 years."